Page 193 - The Freshwater Mussels of Oklahoma

Partial Synonymy:
Plagiola donaciformis (I. Lea, 1828), Simpson 1914; Isely 1925
Truncilla donaciformis (I. Lea, 1828), Isely 1925; Murray and Leonard 1962;
Valentine and Stansbery 1971; Johnson 1980; Branson 1984; Oesch 1984:
Turgeon and others 1988; Williams and others 1992; Vidrine 1993;
Watters 1995; Howells and others 1996
Description:
“Shell rather small, subsolid, irregularly ovate, subinflated, inequilateral, with
moderately high and full, though slightly flattened, beaks, whose sculpture consists of
fine, doubly-looped ridges, the hinder loop being quite irregular on the sharp posterior
ridge; surface with irregular growth lines, sometimes slightly plicate or corrugated on the
posterior slope, generally shining, pale or yellowish-green with a beautiful pattern of
darker green rays. These rays are sometimes entire, but are generally broken up into
arrow-head or zigzag markings; left valve with two compressed pseudocardinals and two
laterals; right valve with one pseudocardinal and one lateral; beak cavities shallow;
muscle scars impressed, the posterior ones round; nacre bluish-white. The female shell is
apparently always smaller than that of the male and has a decided marsupial swelling, the
sharp posterior point being a little more elevated than that of the male shell” (Simpson
1914, p 308).
Hosts for Glochidia:
Freshwater Drum, Sauger (Watters, 1994).

Table 37. Summary of T. donaciformis shell characters.

Maximum
H/L Range Mean H/L Length W/L Range Mean W/L
Location N (%) (%) (mm) (%) (%)
Red River System
Lake Texoma 17 55.2-66.1 60.4 42.5 35.9-46.5 40.3
Arkansas River System
Caney River 19 59.4-63.6 63.6 51.8 38.6-49.3 43.9

General Distribution:
Mississippi River system, parts of the Great Lakes drainage and Gulf of Mexico
tributaries from Alabama to eastern Texas.
Oklahoma Distribution:
Currently found in the Caney, Verdigris, Neosho and Illinois Rivers of
northeastern Oklahoma and Washita, Blue, Boggy and Kiamichi River systems of the
southeastern part of the state.

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